Thank You

As you can see Jim already posted about the Baby Shower, so I'll add what I would like to say. I first would like to Thank some very special people for all their help on making that day very special and memorable for us. I would like to start with my Mom and my Sister Michelle for all their hard work and time that went into to preparing it all, I really appreciate it and will never forget what a beautiful shower it was, I Love You Both Very Much. Also my sister in law Joanie ( Jim's Sister)who was right there helping out from afar with everything, it meant alot to me Joanie, so I thank you and Love you for all that you did. I would like to Thank my sister in law Pamela for helping me at the shower and keeping me in line with all the gifts, Love ya Sis. A Thank you to my cousin Jodi for helping us getting the gifts back to our house. Also Kim Denise Barnett for making my beautiful shower cake. I would like to Thank everyone for coming to my Shower, I will remember this day always as Jim and I have waited a long time for this Blessed occassion and it was great to be able to share it with Family and Friends who are dear to us. If I have forgotten to Thank anybody please let me know. Well Ryan James will be here in about 6 weeks, so we'll have lot's to do to prepare his long awaited arrival. As I sit here I still can't believe Our Dream is about to come true and I pray everyday and Thank God for this Miracle.

Blankets, bibs, books, binkies, batteries, bottles...Yes, it's the Baby Shower!!

Well, we had the Baby Shower this weekend and Renee and I were overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. We were both so happy to get so many wonderful gifts. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't have much to read Ryan at first, but when I first saw the bookcase filled up that idea immediately evaporated. Ryan will be a well dressed little boy once we get him home. Renee will be busy writing the thank you notes soon(hey I had to put the stuff together and make room for everything!), but I wanted to post a quick thank you to those that are following this. It was a wonderful day!

THANK YOU!!!

Blogthings - Would You Be a Cool Parent?

Jim's Parenting test results...Blogthings - Would You Be a Cool Parent?

Warning, the preface to the test is "...suppose you're a parent in your 40's with a teenager..." uummm just a little off, but I still like the results. Let's see Renee's results...

You Will Be a Cool Parent

You seem to naturally know a lot about parenting, and you know what kids need. You can tell when it's time to let kids off the hook, and when it's time to lay down the law. While your parenting is modern and hip, it's not over the top. You know that there's nothing cool about a parent who acts like a teenager... or a drill sergeant!

Would You Be a Cool Parent?

Child Birth Classes started

This week we went to our first child birth class. It was an interesting experience. No, it is not a breathing class. The session was rather relaxed and informative. So I got to learn some of the terms that will be tossed around as the delivery date gets closer and closer: pelvic station, dilation, effaction (sp?). That positive numbers and upwards of 10 cm are the ball park totals. That there is no exact science to the birth experience, meaning that specific numbers and measurements are not total predictors of when the baby will come.

We've done a little nesting in the past few days. Renee has had me rearrange the bedroom to make for a better location of where we will put the bassinet. I've started putting together various pieces of furniture and getting that stuff ready.



Renee has been trying several different products to help her sleep: belts, cushions, occasional Tylenol, but nothing seems to work 100%, not even the nightly foot and leg massages. I believe that it is just part of the preparation of needing to be awake after the baby arrives, but I've heard that that is not to sensible either: to treat a need for no sleep by not sleeping?

Renee is visiting the pediatrician this week to ask some initial questions, so I helped put together a short list of things to follow up on, so we should be pretty much set there.

Each week gets a closer...I need to get some of those short video clips here...

Sonogram visit today

We just got home a short while ago and all is going well. According to the Ultrasound readings, Ryan is now at 3.9 Lbs and 16 inches (a hint for anyone trying to guess the birth weight, so far he's very average).

I have just finished review the vcr copy of the sonogram and their isn't a lot to look at for an untrained eye.
(read: I can't make anything out of it)

I hope I will be able to get maybe a minute off of it into a new video file. I should have a new picture pulled from it shortly. (Image now posted)

How to Talk to Your Baby in Utero

Babies are capable of hearing even before they are born, and many people believe that talking or singing to a baby in-utero is a great way to begin the parent-child bonding relationship, and perhaps even to stimulate a baby's intellect before birth. Whether or not this is true, many parents enjoy talking to their babies-to-be.
Instructions
STEP 1: Get into the habit of talking out loud, even before it is possible for your baby to hear you. Talk (to yourself or others), sing and play music as you go about your daily activities; you may eventually find that changes in your baby's patterns of movement correspond to the type of music you are playing, or to the level of your conversation.
STEP 2: Give your baby a pet name, or use the name you have chosen if you know what sex your baby will be. Many parents continue to use in-utero nicknames like "peanut" or "sprout" long after their baby arrives.
STEP 3: Get both parents to talk to the baby, if possible ' this is often an excellent way for fathers to begin bonding with their babies.
STEP 4: Read books out loud to your baby ' these can be children's books, or they can just be whatever you happen to be reading for your own enjoyment. Some parents choose to read a bedtime story to their unborn babies every evening, while others take a more casual approach.
STEP 5: Set a little time aside every day just to communicate with your baby, perhaps just before you go to sleep. Your baby won't understand the words you are using, but will certainly become familiar with your vocal patterns. This can also help you to relax and focus on your pregnancy, your body, and the hopes and dreams you have for your baby.

RSS, Feeds, Blogs

Ok, you might be thinking what is this techie stuff doing on the Family Blog???

I just wanted to add a quick note to those that might be reading these to have a little helper. I am not going to go into any great detail about the stuff but just going to make a recommendation and point out some links (If you need some technical reading on this see here) .

RSS, feeds, blogs are some of the current big news for the past few years and for those of you that aren't taking advantage of Feed Readers / Aggregators, don't let the names distract you, they will make your discovery of new information that matters to you much more easy.

Once you have a reader set up (recommendation below), as you are surfing around various sites that you find interesting look for the subscription link (and no, money is not always, in fact hardly ever, exchanged with these subscriptions...you're not buying a magazine although the article's you read may influence you to buy a magazine, but thats not what I'm talking about). Sometimes it'll point to various websites that feed the information: Google, Yahoo, etc (there are dozens...)


The link I usually look for is: (Some browsers like Firefox have this immediately in the address bar to subscribe to the site)


I am currently using Google's: Google Reader and really like it.
( Warning tech note: I like the Ajax scrolling to get new articles and how to easily it is post article links to a blog)

So please try one of these out and remember to add us to your reader to keep up on any new posts.

How to Keep a Baby Entertained - WikiHow

Another parenting tip. This site is the second one that I've linked to. Its based on a Wiki, which is gets my geek side up...pretty cool stuff, it enables everyone to join into the conversation on making recommendations, additions, subtractions to the greater knowledge....
How to Keep a Baby Entertained - WikiHow: "
Tips
* When making faces you want to be careful as to what faces you make, you don't want to scare the baby and have them crying. Also when talking to him you want to talk in a nice soothing and calming voice, nothing to alarming for them.
* If the baby does start to cry, blow a stream of air towards his or her face, gently like you were trying to cool a bowl of soup. This will calm the baby and he or she will usually stop for a deep breath; this is your chance to amuse.
* Babies respond better when you talk in a voice that is a little higher pitched than its normal register.
* Be creative. A lot of everyday objects and situations can become a source of entertainment for a baby.


Warnings

* Make sure you play gently - babies are delicate creatures!
* Keep your eyes on the baby at all times (or make sure someone else in the room is watching).
* Avoid objects that are sharp. Avoid playing in areas where a baby could easily bump his/her head and furniture with sharp corners.
* Babies need their own space also. They like to be left alone with books to check it out. Watch your child, but also allow them to have time alone. Do not think you have to entertain them all the time!"

How to Soothe a Baby - WikiHow

A good parenting how-to article. I'll post more as I find them...

How to Soothe a Baby - WikiHow: "If you are calm, the baby will be calm also, as a baby senses his caretaker's anxiety."

Our First Snowstorm

Wow!!! What a Valentine's day to remember and our First Snowstorm of the winter season. Well Jim is working from home today, which was for the best. I am taking it easy and not doing a whole lot. I'm taking advantage of being snowed in and having Jim at home, even though he is working. I feel much better knowing that he isn't taking any risks driving in this storm. The baby has been alot more active lately and Jim has felt him kick alot. I'm starting to feel uncomfortable sleeping at night but I guess it's preparing me for all of those sleepless nights ahead. We had our tour this past monday night at the Northern Dutchess Birthing Center where we will have our baby and we are looking forward to the big day, it's starting to feel more real everyday with the upcoming decisions we have to make. All is going great here and my diabetes is under excellent control the doctor says. We are truly Blessed that everything is going great with this pregnancy.

Sonogram Pictures from 01.31.07

Here are the latest pictures from the sonogram taken on January 31, 2007. The first shows Ryan sucking on his index finger. The second image was taken from the 4D scan. Renee thinks he looks a bit more like me at this stage around the eyes and cheeks. Although she thinks he has her smaller upper lip. Looking at it again, I think he might also have Renee's chin? (We should put up some comparison photos and have a vote....)

Everything's OK

We spent the evening Tuesday at the Hospital(got home Wednesday morning @ 2:30 AM) as Renee was not feeling well. After getting everything checked out, Baby and Mommy are doing fine. (Now to get a little rest)

20 Week Sonogram Picture

This is one of the sonogram pictures taken during the 20th week. We will post some others shortly.

Renee's First Post

Ok this is my first blogging attempt. I hope this will be a way to let family and friend's know what's happening in our lives

First Entry @ the our new blog

Hey this is Jim, finally set up my family blog here. Renee & I struggled with the name (quite a stimulating name huh ! :) ) . I was thinking along the lines of combining some of different words: relax, comfortable, random, thoughts, mindful, bliss, but we chickened out went for the mundane title "Jim & Renee's Family Blog".

About the intent of this blog....I've recently gotten into a lot of blogging at work and am starting to get hooked on it. Being the tech geek that I am, and after just enjoying the week at Lotusphere2007, I am hoping to translate some of the inertia to write about things on the family side. I have been writing a bunch of journal entries to share in the future with our soon to be born son, but have decided to hold of on transferring them here( I would have to edit it too much currently).

Once I get a little more comfortable with the use of this new tool, I will be encouraging Renee to also post her thoughts. So for now, I just want to say WELCOME.